Notostylops
Extinct genus of mammals
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Notostylops ("south pillar face") is a genus of extinct South American notoungulates from Eocene Argentina. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Sarmiento, Casamayor, Andesitas Huancache and Koluel Kaike Formations.[1]
Size comparison of Notostylops murinus with a human.
Life reconstruction.
| Notostylops | |
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| Notostylops | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Notoungulata |
| Family: | †Notostylopidae |
| Genus: | †Notostylops Ameghino, 1897 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
Description
Notostylops was a very generalised animal, very similar to the first eutherians and ungulates. It would have superficially resembled a marmot or a wombat and is suspected to have browsed on low-growing plants. It was probably adapted to a fairly wide range of ecological niches, but its robustness indicates it had some digging adaptations.[2][3] Its tall skull housed rodent-like incisor teeth. Notostylops incisors lacked complex, decussating enamel prisms, instead possessing radial enamel.[4] The endocast of N. murinus had a volume of 9,807 mm3, with the volume of the olfactory bulbs being 629 mm3. Notostylops had a degree of cranial flexure of 34˚.[5] Notostylops was about 75 centimetres (30 in) long.[6]
